


How To Spot A Possible Homo

by internetpiratearrr



Category: Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: 1960s, A/C React, Homophobia, M/M, homophobic newspaper article, how to spot a possible homo, i wish i were joking, sunday mirror, the sunday mirror gives mi5 help
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-21
Updated: 2016-02-21
Packaged: 2018-05-22 10:03:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6075108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/internetpiratearrr/pseuds/internetpiratearrr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Crowely and Aziraphale react to a ridiculous newspaper article from the 1960s.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How To Spot A Possible Homo

This is the article: [[X]](http://41.media.tumblr.com/c74a4d3c134e224bd2f7033335ae0099/tumblr_o2m18nHcqF1v13tz5o1_540.jpg)

Zoom: [[X]](http://41.media.tumblr.com/d1cb51681b6b816e6788ede6362426d3/tumblr_o2m18nHcqF1v13tz5o2_540.jpg) [[X]](http://41.media.tumblr.com/a87d019eff613dd5e24e1a3645043cd6/tumblr_o2m18nHcqF1v13tz5o3_540.jpg)

 

_Sunday Mirror, April 28th 1963, Lionel Crane_

 

 _“_ Crowley, what are you doing?” Aziraphale had just looked up from his cataloguing to see Crowley standing in the door staring at him with a rolled up newspaper in his hand, his face looked worryingly still and the smile on his face was disconcerting.

“Oh, nothing,” he remarked, walking towards Aziraphale with that same smile on his face, “I’m not doing anything, I’m not particularly important, you on the other hand are marvellous. I’ve just come from the newsagents on the end of the road, do you know the shop-keep? Marvellous man, I tell you.”

“Crowley,” said Aziraphale, eyeing him warily, “are you okay, dear boy? You haven’t taken any sort of mind altering drug have you?” 

Crowley threw the paper down with disgust, “as if I would, angel. And do you not care for this country at all?”

“Erm, yes, I suppose I do, I have lived here rather a while, as have you for that matter.”

“Well then you should be on the look out! Don’t you know that ‘the ‘umble man… who is always saying he’s nothing and everybody else is marvellous… with [a] fixed and meaningless smile on his face’ is ‘a prime suspect’?!’ 

“A prime suspect for what, my dear?” Aziraphale politely enquired, still slightly cautious.

“A homo trying to infiltrate the country, of course!” Crowley all but shouted, spreading the paper out in front of Aziraphale. He managed to hold a straight face for all but 0.2 seconds before he fell apart laughing until he was a wheezing heap. Aziraphale read the article whilst Crowley wiped away tears of mirth.

“They really do seem to get themselves all het up about this homosexuality business don’t they, poor things? Well, I suppose them breaking the taboo by actually talking about it means that they might actually consider what it entails and realise it’s not all that terrible.”* 

“Well, just you watch out, angel. You’re a middle-aged, over-clean man who’s adored by older women after all; make sure they don’t accuse you of being a Russian spy.” Crowley said this with a sarcastic twist of his lips but there was something in his eyes (he’d vanished his sunglasses as he’d walked in) that looked a touch worried; Aziraphale decided he must be imagining things, demons can’t care for others, or at least that was what he insisted to the little spark of hope that flared inside him.

“You crawler you, and a fussy dresser too. Get out of my shop,” but there was a wry smile on his lips and the hand waving Crowley away from the counter waved him in the direction of the back room where two glasses of wine suddenly found themselves waiting to be drank.

 

* This is actually what the author concluded did in fact happen after they spent a year searching through hundreds of old articles on homosexuality. The more you know, eh?

**Author's Note:**

> if any one is interested in more articles of a similar nature i have literally hundreds of clippings. also i can go into great depth about the impact this specific article had and its provenance and an article in private eye that mocked it and okay i am such a nerd for mid 20th century newspaper articles on homophobia. i also have a dissertation on the subject if you're interested.


End file.
